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CITYSCAPE The past year hasn’t been awful. Meteors didn’t pummel the 17th Street bridge to dust. Locusts didn’t swarm the samosa tray at Your DeKalb Farmers Market. Mounted Mongol invaders didn’t sack Grant Park and eat Mei Lan. Yet. But a spike in crime, a dip in the housing market, careless missteps by police and city leaders, and, well, Michael Vick have turned our civic mood ring from blue to gray. What better time, then, to seek solace by reflecting on some of the things old and new, trendy and timeless, that we love about our town — whether it’s the diversity of Buford Highway or the charm of our distinctive intown neighborhoods. Maddening though it can be sometimes (witness the last session of the General Assembly), Atlanta is a profoundly interesting place to live. In a generation, it’s morphed from a provincial podunk to a behemoth of international business and a cultural mecca. It doesn’t matter if you’re a hipster in an ironic tee, a scenester clubbing in designer duds, a company foot soldier producing stacks of TPS reports or a refugee fleeing an African war zone. Atlanta has a job for you, a place to live and a bar for you to hang out with your friends. — Andisheh Nouraee |
 Photo by Joeff Davis CHEETAH WELCOMES PANDA: Mei Lan (Critics' Pick for Best |